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AUTHOR: 


KNAPP,  CHARLES 


TITLE: 


REFERENCES  IN  PLAU 
TUS  AND  TERENCE 

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i(JO  1   Knapp  ,  uhar  les  . 

245  iu  References  in  Plautus  and  Terence  to  plays,  players,  and  playwrightSrh 
I  tiller  of  or  m  I .  rCBv  Charles  Knapp. 

260     I  New  Yof  K,  rl)bar  nar  d  Coiieqe,  Columbia  Un  iver  s  i  ty ,  ^cl919?l 

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Reprinted  for  private  circulation  from 
Classical  Philology,  Vol.  XIV,  No.  1,  January  1919 


REFERENCES  IN  PLAUTUS  AND  TERENCE  TO  PLAYS, 

PLAYERS,  AND  PLAYWRIGHTS^ 

By  Charles  Knapp 

Writers  of  plays  in  ancient  days  frequently  remind  us  that  we 
are  in  a  theater,  looking  at  things  fictitious.  In  Plautus  references 
to  comedy  and  tragedy,  to  the  theater,  spectators,  etc.,  are  frequent,^ 
both  in  prologues  and  in  plays  proper.  In  Terence  references  of  this 
sort  are  common  in  the  prologues;  in  the  body  of  a  play  they  are 
infrequent,  but  one  at  least  is  significant  {Hec.  865-68). 

In  considering,  first,  definite  references  to  plays  we  shall  begin 
with  passages  from  the  prologues  of  Plautus,  because  their  Plautine 
authorship  has  been  so  often  called  in  question.  Recently,  however, 
scholars  have  inclined  to  regard  these  prologues  as,  in  the  main,  from 
Plautus'  hand.^    Still,  these  prologues  are  extra  fahulam. 

In  Am.  41-45  there  is  a  mocking  reference  to  the  practice  whereby 
in  tragedy  deities  recite  what  they  have  done  for  mortals.  In  51, 
Mercury,  the  prologist,  declares  argumentum  huius  eloquar  tragoediae. 
From  51-63  we  learn  that  audiences  preferred  comedy  to  tragedy.* 
Again,  a  rough  distinction  is  made  between  tragedy  and  comedy;  to 
the  former,  gods  and  kings,  i.e.,  personages  (themes)  remote  from 
everyday  life,  belong;  to  the  latter,  slaves  (everyday  affairs).^    The 

1  In  the  main,  the  references  are  specific;  occasionally,  however,  for  its  interest, 
a  passage  is  included  in  which  the  reference  is  only  implicit. 

2  Similar  things  occur  in  Greek  literature.  Cf.  e.g.,  Aristophanes  Aves  296; 
Nuhes  326  (see  Van  Leeuwen  and  Starkie  there);    Aves  512;   Nuhes  553-56. 

*  See,  e.g.,  Leo,  Plautinische  Fdrschungen^  (referred  to  hereafter  merely  as  Leo) 
IV,  "Die  Prologe,"  pp.  188-247,  passim. 

*  I  assume  that  the  reader  has  Lindsay's  or  Leo's  text  at  hand  (I  use  Lindsay's), 
and  so  I  refrain,  except  in  cases  of  special  importance,  from  quotation.  Capitaliza- 
tion, punctuation,  and,  occasionally,  spelling  are  my  own. 

*  We  must  not  take  this  very  seriously.  The  prologues  to  the  Aulularia,  the 
Trinmnmus,  and  the  Rudens  are  spoken  by  gods.  Skutsch,  Rhein.  Mus.,  55.  272, 
held  that  Fides  spoke  the  prologue  to  the  Casina.  On  that  prologue  see  Leo,  pp.  207-8. 
I  strongly  incline  to  regard  the  prologue  to  the  Rudens  as  wholly  or  largely  Plautine; 
cf.  Leo,  pp.  211-13.  However,  if  it  be  objected  that,  in  any  case,  the  prologue,  as 
extra  fahulam,  counts  less  heavily  than  the  body  of  a  play,  note  that  in  Ci.  149-202 
Auxilium  speaks  what  is  in  effect  a  prologue  (in  several  places  I  have  chosen,  for 
convenience,   to  designate  as  quasi-prologues  expository  passages.     Leo,  IV,   "Die 

[Classical  Philology  XIV,  January,  1918]  35 


T! 


3g  Charles  Knapp 

nreference  of  audiences  for  comedy  is  emphasized  again  in  Ca.,  Prol. 
S  r  Both  passages  recite  a  well-known  fact  The  -^^-^^^^^^ 
that  gods  belong  rather  to  tragedy  is  repeated  in  Am.,  Prol.  86  93. 
There  the  spectators  are  bidden  not  to  wonder  because  Jupiter 
bothL  his  head  about  actors  or  because  he  is  to  have  a  partm  the 

Amphitruo  (86-90).    In  91-93, 

etiam,  histriones  anno  quom  in  proscaenio  hic 

lovem  invocarunt,  venit,  auxilio  is  fuit. 

Praeterea  certo  prodit  in  tragoedia, 
we  have  a  mocking  allusion  to  some  comedy^  lately  performed,  quite 
Tn  harmony  with  the  allusions  made  by  Terence  to  -en^  Perform- 
ances  of  plays  by  his  hostile  critic^  Lus«us  ^^^^^2^ 
30-34,  P/(.,  Prol.  6-8;  see  below,  pp.  37,  54).  ^  clear  cut 
on^  o  Plautus'  own  plays  is  seen  in  Ba.  212-15  (quoted  below,  p.  39)^ 
In  Ba  910-12  (Chr>-salus  servos  speaks)  we  have  an  aUusion  to 
chafalrs  in  some  famiUar  cnoedra  valUaia  (of.  Horace  Serm.  i.  4. 

''Tn'the   passages  thus  far  considered  we  have  had  comoedia, 
t  JeVa  and  tragicomoedia.    We  may  proceed,  then,  by  assembling 
he  remaining  plLes  in  which  these  and  kindred  terms  appear 

cZoedia  naturally,  is  the  commonest.  It  occurs  -^tojten  - 
the  prologues,  in  references  to  the  play  about  to  be  produced  see 
TJII  60,  88,  96;  As.  13;  Cos.  10,  30  (see  29  34  ;  M^.  84,  86; 
Mer.  3;  Poe.  50-55;   Tru.  H;  Me.  7-12;  Cas.  11-20. 

Nos  postquam  populi  rumore  intelleximus 

studiose  expetere  vos  Plautinas  f  abulas, 

anticuam  eiius  edimus  comoediam 

quam  vos  probastis  qui  estis  in  senioribus; 

Haec  quom  primum  acta  est,  vicit  omnis  fabulas. 
Ea  tempestate  flos  poetarum  fuit 
qui  nunc  abierunt  hinc  in  communem  locum. 
Sed  tamen  apsentes  prosunt  <pro>  praesentibus. 

1    A    T  fi«r1    Hone  this)      On  the  other  hand,  slaves 
Prologe,"  pp.  188-247,  passim,  had,  I  find,  done  tms). 

often  appear  in  tragedy.  ,    -       ,^  .Hp  Amvhitruo  that  comedy  belongs  to  the 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


37 


In  Cas.  23-26^  there  is  a  reference  to  the  current  ludi  {scaenid;  see 
below,  p.  45).  In  62-78  there  are  bits  of  dramatic  criticism.  The 
adulescens  who  is  vitally  interested  in  the  outcome  of  the  play  had 
been  sent,  before  the  play  began,  to  the  country.  Meeting  a  criti- 
cism which  might  be  passed  upon  the  play  (or  had  been  passed  upon 
the  play),  the  prologist  (64-66)  explains,  laughingly,  why  he  will  not 
return.  In  52-56  the  prologist  had  referred  to  the  marriage  of 
slaves.2  In  67-78  he  meets  criticism  of  the  inclusion  of  such  matter 
in  a  play.  Cf.  Pe.  23-29,  a  dialogue  between  slaves,  and  St.  447-52, 
a  good  passage. 

Within  the  plays  comoedia  occurs  in  Am.  868;  Ca.  1033;  Cis.  787; 
Mo.  1149-51,  a  very  important  passage: 

Th.:    Quid  ego  nunc  faciam  ?    Tr.:    Si  amicus  Diphilo  aut  Philemonies, 
dicito  is  quo  pacto  tuos  te  servos  ludificaverit : 
optumas  frustrationes  dederis  in  comoediis; 

Ps.  1082-83  (Ballio  leno);  Ps.  1240;  Am.  984-90  (a  mocking  refer- 
ence to  certain  scenes  in  comedy;  cf.  Ca.  778,  788  ff.,  and  see  p.  38) : 

Concedite  atque  apscedite  omnes,  de  via  decedite, 

nee  quisquam  tarn  avidax  fuat  homo  qui  obviam  opsistat  mihi, 

nam  mihi  quidem  hercle  qui  minus  liceat  deo  minitarier 

populo,  ni  deeedat  mihi,  quam  servolo  in  comoediis  ? 

Ille  navem  salvam  nuntiat  aut  irati  adventum  senis: 

ego  sum  lovi  dicto  audiens,  eius  iussu  nunc  hue  me  adfero, 

quam  ob  rem  mihi  magis  par  est  via  decedere  et  concedere. 

With  this  cf.  Hau.  28-32:  the  prologist  had,  in  16-21,  met  the  charge 
that  Terence  had  practiced  contaminatio,  in  23-27  the  charge  that 
Terence  owed  his  success  amicum  ingenium,  not  natura  sua;  he  now 
picks  flaws  in  Luscius'  plays.  See,  further,  Poe.  1370-71;  Mi.  79-87. 
Tr.  705-6  will  be  discussed  below,  pp.  43-44. 

In  Terence  comoedia  occurs  but  seldom.  It  is  found  (1)  in  pro- 
logues. An.  26;  Hau.  4;  Ph.  25;  (2)  Hec.  866.  Terence  preferred 
fahula  to  comoedia.  Often,  in  talking  of  plays,  he  uses  a  feminine 
adjective,  with  a  noun  (doubtless  fahula)  to  be  suppUed.  Cf.,  e.g., 
Eu.,  Prol.  8  {his)]  Hau.,  Prol.  29. 

1  On  this  prologue  see  Leo,  pp.  207-8. 

2  In  Mi.  1007-8  Palaestrio  servos  talks  of  getting  married,  though  he  has  as  yet 
no  prospect  of  freedom.  In  Ad.  973  a  slave,  just  manumitted,  refers  to  his  mate, 
not  yet  free,  as  uxor  mea. 


38 


Charles  Knapp 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


39 


References  for  tragoedia  are  Am.,    Prol.  41,  51;    Poe.,  Prol.  2; 

^"■c!l^!i  appears  in  Ca.,  Prol.  61  comico  choragio;    Ca.  778-79 
(Ergasilus  parasitus,  full  of  good  news,  speaks) :' eodem  pacto  u 
comici  servi  solent,  coniciam  in  collum  pallium,  '  .  .  •   ,   i^oe  59/ 
(see  597-99)  (Advocati)  Aurum  .  .  .  comicum  (lupines  used  as  stoge 
money).     In  P..  465,  m  reply  to  a  question  by  Toxilus  servos:  "Sed 
satinestismeditati?"    Sagaristiosays:  "Tragiciet  comicinumquain 
aeque  sunt  meditati."     In  Poe.  581  the  cook  says,  ''  Q"-  ^depd  con- 
doctior  sum  quam  tragoedi  aut  comici."    See  also  Ru.  1249-53. 
Spectavi  ego  pridem  comicos  ad  istunc  modum 
sapienter  dicta  dicere,  atque  is  plaudier, 
quom  illos  sapientes  mores  monstrabant  poplo: 
sed  quom  inde  suam  quisque  ibant  divorsi  domum, 
nuUus  erat  illo  pacto  ut  illi  iusserant. 
Comoedice  occurs  in  Mi.  213,  just  after  Plautus  (209-12)  has  referred 
to  Naevius' imprisonment.  . 

Tragicus  and  tragoedus  occur  once  each:  Pe.  465;  Poe  581.  in 
Poe  1168  Leo,  bv  conjecture,  reads  tragicae.  Lindsay  has  a  very 
different  text.     (See  The  Classical  Quarterly,  XII,  140.) 

The  use  of  poeta  in  Plautus  I  have  discussed  in  Classical  Philology, 
XII   149-50.     Add  Cas.,  Prol.  18  (see  above,  p.  36);  Men.  7;  Mi. 

209-12  poetae iarbaro.    Poerm  occurs  only  in  As.  174:   see 

Classical  PhUology,Xll,U9,n.  2.  „  j  „„.,„. 

In  the  prologues  of  Terence'  plays  Terence  is  often  called  poeta. 
An.l;  Hau.2;  £«.  3,  (23),  28;  P/>.  1,(14);  Ad.  1,  25.  J"  Jke  com- 
plimentary sense  poeta  is  used  [Hec.  21)  of  CaeciUus.  With  deroga- 
tory epithets  poeta  is  sneeringly  applied  to  Luscius  Lanuvmus,  in 
An.  6-7;  Hau.  23;  Ph.  1  (in  Ph.  13  vetus  ....  poeto,  m  a  quota- 
tion, is  probably  not  derogatory). 

Part  of  the  player's  activity,   dancing,   Plautus  describes  by 

iniplication  as  ars  ludicra  (An.  626).  ^"-J^ii^'f  °7';^^;"r  ^ 
Au  401-2,  volsus  Ivdius;  Cu.  150-51  (see  147-55).  In  Pe.  824-26 
two  kinds  of  dances,  the  staticulus  and  the  Ionic  dance,  and  two  well- 
known  dancers,  Hegea  and  Diodorus,  are  named.  The  lo-c  d-nce 
is  named  also  in  Ps.  1274a-1277a;    St.  769.    See  also  St.  755  ff., 

1  Cf.  Ph.  844-45. 


774  ff.  The  character  of  the  dancing — its  indecency — is  indicated 
by  the  last  passages  and  by  Me.  196-99,  511-17. 

To  denote  the  dramatic  art  Terence  uses  ars  musica  {Hec,  Prol. 
23,  46;  Ph.,  Prol.  17),  studium  musicum  (Hau.,  Prol.  23),  studium 
(Hec,  Prol.  19,  23),  beside  ars  musica  {Hec.j'Prol.,  53;  Ph.,  Prol.  2), 
ars  {Hau.,  Prol.  48). 

Fahula  appears  in  Plautus  forty  times.  The  thirty-two  passages 
in  which  it  denotes  a  play  may  be  grouped  as  follows: 

1.  Passages  involving  the  phrsise  fabulam  agere:  Am.,  Prol.  94-95; 
Ca.,  Prol.  52;  Cas.,  Prol.  17;  Me.,  Prol.  72  (see  72-76);  Mo.  1181; 
Poe.  550-52;  Ps.  720-21. 

2.  In  appeals  for  silence  or  for  applause:  Am.,  Prol.  15-16;  Ca., 
Prol.  54  (see  54-58);  Ca.  1029  (see  1029-36);  M0.-II8I;  Poe.  1370; 
Ps.  1334  (see  1331-34);  i?u.  1421  (see  1418-23);  Tr.22;  Tru.  967-68. 

3.  In  passages  which  name  the  play  to  be  performed  or  refer  to 
its  argumentum:  As.,  Prol.  7  (see  6-12);    Tr.,  Prol.  16  (see  16-22). 

4.  In  passages  involving  the  phrase /a&uZam  facer e:  Ca.  55,  1029; 
Mer.  1007;   Cas.  1006. 

5.  In  passages  involving  the  phrase  fahulam  transigere:  Cas., 
Prol.  84;  Ps.  564. 

6.  In  passages  involving  the  phrase  fahulam  spectare:  Cas., 
Prol.  6  (see  5-20);  Ba.  215. 

7.  Ps.  1-2  (the  only  verses  extant  of  the  prologue) : 

Exporgi  meliust  lumbos  atque  exsurgier:^ 
Plautina  longa  fabula  in  scaenam  venit. 

8.  Ba.  211-15: 

Pi.:    Immo —  Ch.:    Immo  hercle  abiero 
potius.    Pi.:    Num  invitus  rem  bene  gestam  audis  eri  ? 
Ch.:    Non  res,  sed  actor  mihi  cor  odio  sauciat. 
Etiam  Epidicum,  quam  ego  fabulam  aeque  ac  me  ipsum  amo, 
nullam  aeque  invitus  spec  to,  si  agit  Pellio. 

Conversely,  for  the  value  of  good  acting,  see  what  is  said  on  page  54 
about  L.  Ambivius  Turpio's  relation  to  the  plays  of  Caecilius,  and 
Ph.,  Prol.  9-11.2 

iCf.  Tru.  967-68;  Ep.  733. 

*  Contrast  Terence'  jeer  at  Luscius,  in  Ph.,  Prol.  9-11:  "quod  si  intellegeret, 
quom  stetit  olim  nova,  actoris  opera  magis  stetisse  quam  sua,  minus  multo  audacter 
quam  nunc  laedit  laederet." 


40 


Charles  Knapp 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


41 


9.  Instructive,  too,  is  Poe.  3-8.  Verse  8  clearly  implies  the  per- 
formance of  two  or  more  plays  in  sequence  on  one  day.  Cf.,  then, 
Ps.  1-2,  quoted  under  7,  above.  Important,  too,  are  the  closing 
verses  of  the  Pseudolus  (1332-35,  especially  1334-35,  Pseudolus 
servos).  Evidently  a  play  or  plays  had  preceded  the  Pseudolus,  and 
there  was  to  be  a  dramatic  performance  next  day.  One  might  even 
guess,  from  Plautina  {Ps.,  Prol.  2),  that  the  preceding  play  had  been 
a  play  by  another  author  (unless,  indeed,  the  emphasis  is  on  longa. 
In  that  case  see   below,  p.  41.      See  Morris  on  Ps.  1334  f.,  and 

Lorenz,  Pseudolus,  p.  1). 

In  eight  passages /abwZa  more  or  less  completely  =  ' bit  of  fiction,' 
^fiction,'  ^mummery^  Ca.,  Prol.  52;  Me.  724,  1077;  Mi.  293;  Mo. 
510,  937;  Pe.  788;  Ru.  355. 

Terence  uses  fahula,  ^play,'  'comedy,'  in  his  prologues  only,  in 
passages  involving  certain  familiar  phrases:^ 

1.  Fahulamfacere:  An.  3,  (9),  (12);  (Hau.  17);  (Em.  8,  34);  F/i.  4. 

2.  Fahulam  dare:  (i/aw.  33-34);  Eu.  24:;  Heel, 

3.  Fahulam  scribere:    {Hau.  43);    {Eu.  7);    {Hec.  6,  8,  27,  56); 

{Ad.  16). 

4.  Fahulam  discere:    {Hec.  14-15:   spoken  by  Ambivius  Turpio, 

18-19,  56). 

5.  Fahulam  agere:    {Hau.  36);    {Eu.   19,  22);    {Hec.   18,  30); 

{Ad.  12). 

6.  Fahulam  cognoscere,  noscere:  used  of  coming  to  know,  and  so 

to  value  rightly,  a  play:   {Hec.  3,  8,  20). 

7.  Fahulam  spectare:   {Hec.  3,  20). 

8.  Fahulam  inspicere,  said  of  watching  a  rehearsal,  or  of  a  private 
view,  of  a  play  before  the  aediles:   {Eu.  21). 

9.  Fahulam  referre:  {Hec.  7,  29,  38). 

10.  Fahulam  vendere:  {Hec.  7). 

11.  Fahulam  emere:  {Eu.  20:  plays  bought  by  the  aediles); 
{Hec.  57 :  plays  bought  by  Ambivius  Turpio) . 

12.  Exigere  fahulam,  Ho  cause  a  play  to  fail,'  Ho  disapprove  a 

play':  {Hec.  13). 

*  In  many  passages  fabula  does  not  actually  occur  (see  above,  p.  37,  on  Terence' 
use  of  camoedia  and  of  fabuhi) ;  I  have  included  these  passages,  setting  the  references 
to  them,  however,  in  parentheses. 


13.  Fahula  slat  {stetit,  stetisse),  fahula  placet,  fahula  inveterascit, 
of  a  play  succeeding:   {Ph.  9-10);  An.  3;  Hec.  12.^ 

14.  Fahulam  contaminare:  An.  16;    {Hau.  17). 
In  Ad.,  Prol.  22,  we  have  argumentum  fahulae. 

For  fahula,  fahulae,  in  the  sense  of  'mummery,'  etc.  (see  above, 
p.  40),  in  Terence  see,  e.g..  An.  224,  553,  747;  Hau.  337. 
Argumentum,  'plot,'  occurs  as  follows: 

1.  In  prologues:  Am.  51,  96;  As.  8;  Me.  5;  Mer.  2;  Mi.  79, 
85,  98  (the  expository  speech  of  Palaestrio  servos,  79-155,  is  vir- 
tually a  prologue:  see  above,  p.  35,  n.  5);  Tr.  16;  Vi.  10;  An.  6,^ 
11;  Ad.  22.  Cf.  Me.  13-16;  Poe.  46  (see  46-58).  Ci.  155  seems 
to  stand  outside  a  prologue,  but  in  effect  verses  149-202,  spoken  by 
Auxilium,  form  a  prologue  (see  above,  p.  35,  n.  5). 

2.  In  the  body  of  a  play:   Tr.  707. 

In  Tr.,  Prol.  16-17  argumentum  and  res  are  both  used  in  the  sense 
of  'plot.'     In  Ba.  212,  in  a  lusus  verhorum,  res  =  'plot,'  'story,'  'play.' 

Certain  passages  make  it  plain  that  there  was  a  conventional 
length  (about  1,000  verses?)^  for  a  play.  Cf.  first  Ps.,  Prol.  1-2 
(quoted  above,  p.  39).  There  are  1,334  verses  in  this  play.  Ps.  388 
is  better:  "nolo  bis  iterari;  sat  sic  longae  fiunt  fabulae."  See 
Morris  on  388;  Lorenz  on  376,  and  Einleitung  zum  Pseudolus,  Anm. 
35.  Compare  next  Cas.  1006  (see  1004-6),  "banc  ex  longa  longiorem 
ne  faciamus  fabulam."  In  its  present  form,  in  Lindsay's  text,  the 
Casina  has  1,018  verses,  but  evidently  much  has  been  lost.  Cf.  next 
the  talk  of  Eutychus  adulescens  with  Lysimachus  and  Demipho, 
senes,  Mer.  1003-8,  especially  1005-8  (there  are  1,026  verses  in  this 
play).    Possibly  Cas.  1012-14,  Ci.  782-85,  and  An.  980-81  belong  here.* 

^  Kindred  phrases  are  seen  in  Hec,  Prol.  15:  sum  ....  exactus;  Hec,  Prol.  36 
(Ambivius  Turpio) :  "fecere  ut  ante  tempus  exirem  foras" ;  Hec,  Prol.  21  (Ambivius) : 
"Ita  poetam  restitui  in  locum";  Ph.,  Prol.  32-34:  "per  tumultum  noster  grex  motus 
locost,  quem  actoris  virtus  nobis  restituit  locum  .  .  .  .";  Hec,  Prol.  39:  placeo 
(cf.  Ad.,  Prol.  18);   Hec,  Prol.  42:    "Ergo  interea  meum  non  potui  tutari  locum." 

*  An.  1-7  explains  why  the  word  is  so  rare  in  Terence. 

'The  Andria,  Hecyra,  and  Adelphoe  have  each  less  than  1,000  verses;  the  other 
plays  of  Terence  have  less  than  1,100  verses  each.  Of  Plautus'  plays  the  following 
have  less  than  1,000  verses:  Asinaria,  Aulularia  (832,  plus  8  fragmentary  verses; 
the  play  is,  however,  incomplete),  Cistellaria,  Curculio,  Epidicus,  Persa,  Stichus,  and 
the  Truculentus.     The  Captivi  has  1,036  verses,  the  Mercator,  1,026. 

*  We  may,  perhaps,  compare  also  Ep.  665  (Epidicus  servos) :  Abeo  intro:  nimis 
longum  loquor;  Poe.  1224  (spoken  by  Agorastocles  adulescens  to  Hanno  Poenus) : 
"In  pauca  confer:  sitiunt  qui  sedent"  (see  Boxhorn,  in  Naudet's  edition).     In  various 


42 


Charles  Knapp 


We  take  up  now  references  to  the  actors. 

The  word  actor,  'actor/  occurs  but  once  in  Plautus  {Ba.  213, 
quoted  above,  p.  39).  For  histrio  cf.  Tru.  931  (see  930-32);  Poen., 
Prol.  20;  Ca.,  Prol.  13;  Am.,  Prol.  64-85  {ter).  For  {ars)  histrionia 
see  Am.,  Prol.  91,  151-52.  In  Poe.,  Prol.  4  (a  fine  passage)  we 
have,  in  a  vrapd  irpoaboKiav  passage,  imperator  ....  histricus;  in 
Poen.,  Prol.  44  we  have  imperata  quae  sunt  pro  imperio  histrico.  In 
Am.,  Prol.  69-72  we  have  histrio  and  artifex  (scaenicus)  differen- 
tiated. Artifex  appears  also  in  Poen.,  Prol.  40.  Terence  uses  actor, 
'actor,'  in  Ph.,  Prol.  10  (quoted  above,  p.  39,  n.  2). 

Grex,  'company  of  actors,'  occurs  in  As.,  Prol.  1-3,  along  with 
domini  (gregis)  and  conductores  (gregis)',  Cas.,  Prol.  21-22;  Ps.  1334; 
Hau.,  Prol.  43-45.  Over  As.  942-i7;  Ba.  1207-11;  and  Ep.  732-33, 
in  each  case  the  closing  verses  of  the  play,  the  heading  "Grex"  is 
set.  In  Tr.  866  the  sycophanta  calls  the  man  who  had  hired  him 
to  play  his  tricks  in  that  comedy  ille  conductor  mens;  in  853-56  he 
uses  conduco  twice  and  conductor  once  of  the  same  proceeding. 

The  term  caterva  does  not  occur  in  Plautus  or  in  Terence  in  the 
sense  of  'company  of  actors.'  It  appears  as  a  heading  over  the 
closing  verses  of  the  Captivi  (1029-36)  and  of  the  Cistellaria  (782-87). 
In  Pe.  858,  Lindsay,  without  MSS  warrant,  sets  "Caterva"  before 
Plaudite,  the  last  word  of  the  play. 

Cas.  Prol.  70,  novom  attulerunt,  quod  fit  nusquam  gentium,  is  in 
order  here,  since  the  main  verb  is  plural;  its  subject  is  scaenici,  or 
artifices  scaenici,  a  term  broad  enough  to  include  both  playwright  and 

company. 

Many  scholars  hold  that  the  closing  words  in  each  play  of  Ter- 
ence—a brief  bid  for  applause— were  spoken  by  the  Cantor;  see  the 
editors,  e.g.,  Fairclough  and  Ashmore,  on  An.  981. 

In  various  passages  reference  is  made  to  the  conventional  roles 
of  the  fahula  palliata.     Cf.  Ba.  649-50: 

passages  an  actor  refuses  to  tell  another  something  unknown  to  that  other,  though 
known  to  the  audience;  cf.,  e.g..  Ep.  656-63;  Poe.  920-21;  Ps.  718-21  (a  good  pas- 
sage); Ps.  687:  "Sed  iam  satis  est  philosophatum.  Nimis  dm  et  longum  loquor  ; 
Tr  1077-  Hau.  335-36.  These  passages  may  belong  here.  But  of  course  there  is 
good  artistic  reason,  of  an  entirely  different  sort,  for  this  refusal.  Ashmore  (Terence 
introductory  note  to  Eu.  207  ff.)  reminds  us  that  Donatus  speaks  contemptuously  of 
the  fact  that  this  scene  (207  ff.)  tells  things  already  known. 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence     43 

Non  mihi  isti  placent  Parmenones,  Syri,* 
qui  duas  aut  tris  minas  auferunt  eris; 

Men.,  Prol.  72-76  (an  important  passage) ;  Ca.,  Prol.  57-58  (leno, 
meretrix,  miles  gloriosus);  Ca.  1029-32  (stock  themes) ;  Eu.,  Prol.  26 
(parasitus),  30-31  (parasitus,  miles  gloriosus),  35-41  (a  fine  passage); 
Hau.,  Prol.  35-40  (a  fine  passage). 

In  connection  with  the  training  of  actors  we  may  note  first  the 
phrase /a6i/?am  discere  (see  above,  under  fahula  4,  p.  40).  For  more 
specific  references  to  rehearsals  see  Poe.  550-56.  This  interesting  and 
important  passage  gives  us  the  verb  docere  (fahulam,  vel  adores) ; 
hence  cf.  Poe.  578-81  (the  opening  verses  of  Act  III,  scene  2). 

In  Tr.  627-704  Lysiteles  adulescens  tries,  in  vain,  to  persuade 
Lesbonicus  adulescens  to  give  him  his  sister  in  marriage,  sine  dote. 
In  705-8  Stasimus  servos,  who  has  heard  the  whole  discussion, 
exclaims 

Non  enim  possum  quin  exclamem,  Eugae,  eugae,  Lysiteles,  TroXtv! 
facile  palmam  habes:  hie  victust,  vicit  tua  comoedia. 
Hie  agit  magis  ex  argumento  et  versus  meliores  faeit. 
Etiam  ob  stultitiam  tuam  te  f  curis  f  multabo  mina. 

On  this  passage  see  Brix-Niemeyer^,  on  707  and  707  f.,  and 
Marquardt-Wissowa,  Romische  Staatsverwaltung'^,  III,  542.  There 
seems  to  be  no  evidence  that  at  Rome  dramatic  poets  contended 
against  one  another  at  the  ludi  for  prizes,  at  least  in  the  days  of 
Plautus  and  Terence.  Since  the  bringing  over  from  a  Greek  play 
into  a  Latin  play  of  a  very  definite  Greek  practice  that  was  without 
parallel  in  Roman  practice  would  be,  to  say  the  least,  flat,  we  must 
see  in  706-7  only  a  general  statement,  expressed,  to  be  sure,  in  more 
or  less  theatrical  terms,  but  appUcable  to  any  age  and  any  country. 
The  idea  apparently  advanced  in  708  that  the  defeated  (?)  poet  was 
in  some  way  punished  Brix-Niemeyer  regard  as  "auch  eine  ingeniose 
Erfindung  des  Sklaven."  To  Professor  Morris  the  verses  are  a  ''late 
interpolation.''  Neither  Cas.,  Prol.  17  nor  Ph.,  Prol.  16-17  need 
imply  a  specific  contest  between  playwrights. 

1  Plautus  has  no  slave  named  Parmeno  or  Syrus.  A  Parmeno  servos  is  a  character 
in  the  Eunuchus,  the  Hecyra,  and  the  Adelphoe.  A  Syrus  servos  appears  in  the 
Hauton  and  the  Adelphoe;  Syra  lena  appears  in  the  Cistellaria,  Syra  anus  in  the  Mer- 
cator  and  Hecyra,  Syra  tonstrix  in  the  Truculentus.  Cf.  also  in  this  connection 
Horace  Serm.  i.  6.  38. 


44 


Charles  Knapp 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


45 


Contests  between  actors  may  or  may  not  be  implied  in  Tr.  708 
(see  above).  But,  clearly,  actors  were  rewarded  for  good  work  and 
punished  for  bad  (this  would  surely  lead  to  rivalry  between  them  . 
Cf  (1)  Passages  from  the  body  of  a  play:  Tr.  990  (sycophanta) : 
"vapulabis  meo  arbitratu  et  novorum  aedilium"  (see  Morns  and 
Brix-Niemeyer,  ad  loc).  In  Cas.  952-58  Naudet  saw  a  reference  to 
the  flogging  of  actors.  (2)  Passages  from  the  close  of  a  play:  As. 
946-47  (see  Gray's  good  note) ;  Ci.  784-85.  (3)  Passages  in  pro- 
logues: Am.  24-31  (see  Palmer  on  27),  64-78  (the  passage  proves 
that  the  awards  were  made,  at  times,  by  the  aediles) ;  Po6  36-39 
(contains  reference  to  the  giving  of  prizes,  by  favoritism,  by  the 

curatores  ludorum).  .  . 

Since  favor  and  prizes  were  to  be  won,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
there  were  organized  efforts,  directed  in  part  by  the  actors  them- 
selves, through  claques,  letters,  go-betweens,  etc.,  to  influence  the 
award:  Am.,  Prol.  64-78,  81-85.  All  this  gives  deeper  meaning  to 
the  appeals  for  applause  (see  below,  p.  46). 

At  least  two  passages  contain  reference  to  an  encore:  1  r.  7Uo  S 
(see  above,  p.  43),  and  Ps.  1275-79  (an  allusion  to  something  that 
had  taken  place  off  stage,  but  pertinent  to  our  inquiry).  toKlp  and 
varum  are  the  words  used  to  call  for  the  repetition. 

For  allusions  to  the  choragus  see  Pe.  159-60:  "Aps  chorago 
sumito<ornamenta>;  dare  debet:  praebenda  aediles  locaverunt  ; 
Tr.  858;   Cu.  462-66  (a  choragus  speaks,  through  486): 

Edepol  nugatorera  lepidum  lepide  hunc  nactust  Phaedromus. 
Halophantam  an  sucophantam  magis  esse  dicam  nescio. 
Ornamenta  quae  locavi  metuo  ut  possim  rccipere; 
quaraquam  cum  istoc  mihi  negoti  nihil  est:  ipsi  Phaedromo 
credidi;  tamen  adservabo. 
See  Naudet  on  the  first  verse  of  this  scene.     Cf.  comico  choragio,  Ca., 

Prol.  61.  .  , 

References  to  the  costumes  of  actors  would  be  in  place  here. 

They  have  been  well  treated  by  Professor  Catharine  Saunders,  Cos- 
tume in  Roman  Comedy.  _ 

To  the  theater  as  a  physical  thing  Plautus  refers  at  times.  Of. 
Am  Prol  66-68  (cavea);  Tru.  931  (cavea);  Poe.  20  (scaena);  Ps.  2 
iscalna);   Ps.  568  (scaena);   Poe.,  Prol.  17-18:    "scortum  exoletum 


ne  quis  in  proscaenio  sedeat";  Am.j  Prol.  91-92  (proscaenium) ;  Poe, 
55-57  (proscaenium).  Theatrum  occurs  in  Ps.  1081.  References  to 
seats,  too,  would  be  in  order,  but  these  I  plan  to  deal  with  at  another 

time. 

In  Plautus,  as  often  elsewhere  in  Latin,  ludi,  without  qualifying 
adjective  (scaenici),  is  used  of  the  games  at  which  theatrical  per- 
formances were  given:  Cas.,  Prol.  23-28  (an  interesting  passage); 
Poe.,  Prol.  36-42;  Ru.  535  (important);  Me.,  Prol.  29  (perhaps); 
Ci.  156-57.  Kindred  are  Ps.  546  (see  Morris,  ad  loc;  Lorenz  on 
524);  Ps.  552;  Pe.  771a.  One  example  of  the  phrase  ludos  facere, 
'cozen,'  is  in  point  (Mo.  427-28): 

Ludos  ego  hodie  vivo  praesenti  hie  seni 
faciam,  quod  credo  mortuo  numquam  fore. 

Plays,  we  remember,  were  produced  at  ludi  (funehres) ;  cf.  the 
Didascaliae  to  the  Adelphoe  and  the  Hecyra.  In  Hec.,  Prol.  44-45, 
we  have  ^'vobis  datur  potestas  condecorandi  ludos  scaenicos."^ 
Reference  is  made  also  to  the  praeco,  whose  hard  task  it  was  to  quiet 
the  audience:  As.,  Prol.  4-5;  Poe.,  Prol.  11-16.  These  passages 
prove  that  the  praeco  got  pay,  but  they  do  not  tell  who  was  pay- 
master. In  Poe.,  Prol.  19-22,  there  is  reference  to  dissignatores, 
'ushers.' 

Tr.  990  (quoted  above,  p.  44)  shows  that  the  Trinummus  was 
performed  shortly  after  the  induction  of  certain  aediles  into  office. 
From  a  play  proper  cf.  for  the  aediles,  Pe.  157-60;  from  prologues 
cf.  Am.  72,  80;  Poe.  52.  In  Eu.,  Prol.  20,  there  is  reference  to  the 
purchase  of  the  Eimuchus,  from  Terence,  by  the  aediles.  In  Hec, 
Prol.  1-7,  the  sale  of  a  play  by  the  poet  is  mentioned,  but  the  aediles 
are  not  named  as  purchasers.  Eu.,  Prol.  21-26,  implies  a  rehearsal 
of  the  Eunuchus,  at  which  a  magistrate  (aedile  ?)  and  Luscius  were 
present;  as  a  result  Luscius  charged  Terence  with  contaminatio  and 
plagiarism  (see  below,  pp.  52,  53,  54-55).  Once  there  is  reference  to 
music  between  'acts':    Ps.  573a. 

We  consider  next  the  audience.  Poe.,  Prol.  32-36,  proves  the 
presence  of  women  (matronae,  mulieres);  Poe.,  Prol.  28-31,  that 
nuirices,  with  infantes  minutuli,  might  be  present;   Poe.,  Prol.  41-45, 

1  In  Poe.  1290-91  and  Pe.  433-36  ludi  refers  rather  to  Ivdi  circenses;  in  Poe. 
1010-12  the  reference  is  to  a  venatio,  i.e.,  to  ludi  amphitheatralea. 


46 


Charles  Knapp 


that  pedisequi  came  with  their  masters.  Ru.  1249-53  also  proves 
that  slaves  were  in  the  audience,  but  clearest  by  far  on  that  pomt 
is  Poe.,  Prol.  23-27.  From  Poe.,  Prol.  5-10,  21-22,  we  see  that  spec- 
tators came  very  early  in  the  morning. 

Of  the  spectators  the  playwrights  were  ever  conscious.  J^re- 
quently  an  actor  or  a  group  of  actors  addresses  the  spectators 
directly,  using  the  word  spectatores}    The  passages  fall  mto  three 

groups:  71  r     o 

1  Passages  in  prologues:   Am.  66;   As.  1;   Cas.  1-4;   Me.  2. 

2  Passages  at  the  ends  of  plays,  passages  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses extra  fahulam  (and  so  much  like  those  in  Group  1);  of  ten  there 
is,  in  such  passages,  an  appeal  for  approval  of  the  play.     Cf .  (a)  Pas- 
sages spoken  by  an  individual  (the  name  and  the  role  of  the  speaker 
are  given  in  parentheses):    Am.   1146   (luppiter);    Cas.   1012-18 
(ChaUnus  servos:   an  entertaining  passage);   Cu.  728-29  (Phaedro- 
mus  adulescens);    Me.  1162  (Messenio  servos);    Mo.  1181  (Theo- 
propides  senex);   Pe.  858  (Toxilus  servos);   Poe.  550-54  (Advocati); 
Ru   1418-23  (Daemones  senex) ;   St.  774-75  (Stichus  servos) ;    Tru. 
968  (Phronesium  meretrix);  Mer.  1015-26  (an  especially  mterestmg 
passage:    in  place  of  spedatores  we  have  series  plus  adulescentes) . 
(6)  In  passages  spoken  by  the  Grex  or  by  the  Caterva:  Ba.  1208-12: 

Hi  senes  nisi  fuissent  nihili  iam  inde  ab  adulescentia, 
non  hodie  hoc  tantum  flagitium  facerent  cams  capitibus; 
neque  adeo  haec  faceremus,  ni  antehac  vidissemus  fieri 
ut  apud  lenones  rivales  filiis  fierent  patres. 
Spectatores,  vos  valere  volumus,  clare  adplaudere; 

Ca.  1029-36;  Ci.  782-87. 

3  In  the  body  of  a  play:  Ain.  997-98  (Mercurius) ;  Ba.  1070-73 
(Chrysalus  servos) ;  Ci.  678-81  (spoken  by  Halisca  ancilla,  who  is 
looking  for  the  lost  cistella) : 

Mei  homines,  mei  spectatores,  facite  indicium,  si  quis  vidit 

quis  earn  apstulerit,  quisve  sustulerit,  et  utrum  hac  an  iliac  iter  institerit. 

Non  sum  scitior  quae  hos  rogem  aut  quae  f  atigem, 

qui  semper  malo  muUebri  sunt  lubentes;^ 

1  For  addresses  to  the  spectators  in  Aristophanes  see.  e.g.,  Aves  30  f!..  Eguites 
•^fi  fF     Vesvae  54  ff..  Pax  50  ff.,  Achar.  496,  513. 

Vwrri  in  Horace  Serm  i  4.  48-53.  comedy  holds  the  mirror  up  to  hfe  See 
p  35  n  5  abovx.  In  cLoM^io;  65  Cicero' illustrates  life  by  an  appeal  to  t^^Adelphoe 
S  Terenc;  Cf.  also  Cicero  Laelius  100;  98:  "Nee  parasitorum  m  comoedns  adsen- 
tatio  faceta  nobis  videretur,  nisi  essent  mUites  glonosi. 

s  With  this  abuse  of  the  audience  by  an  actor  cf.  Au.  716  (quoted  below,  p.  47). 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


47 


Mer.  160:  "Dormientis  spectatores  metuis  ne  ex  somno  excites?"; 
Poe.  550-54  (Advocati) ;  Poe.  597-99  (Advocati) ;  Ps.  720  (Pseudolus 
servos);  St.  673-75  (Stephanium  ancilla);  Tru.  105  (Astaphium 
ancilla);   Tru.  482-83  (Stratophanes  miles). 

At  times  the  spectators  are  directly  addressed  or  directly  referred 
to,  though  the  word  spectatores  is  not  used. 

1.  In  prologues,  naturally,  since  the  task  of  the  prologist  was  to 
win  the  audience  to  good  humor:  vos,  as  more  intimate  and  less 
formal  than  spectatores,  is  the  usual  form  of  address.  Cf.  Am.  1-16, 
20-27,  32-49,  50-96,  110-11,  142-47,  151-52;  As.  7,  9-12,  14-15; 
Ca.  1-6, 10-16,1  23,  52,  53-58;  Cas.  5-16,  21-24,  29-30,  64-66,  67-78, 
87-88;  Cis.  147-48  (lena):^  ''Haec  sic  res  gesta  est.  Si  quid  usus 
venerit,  meminisse  ego  hanc  rem  vos  volo.  Ego  abeo  domum," 
149-56,  170  (Auxilium):  ''ut  eampse  vos  audistis  confiterier''  (a 
reference  to  the  soliloquy  of  the  lena,  120-48),  197-202;  Me.  1-16, 
23,  47-55;  Mer.  8,^  14-15,  17,  37,  103;  Mi.  79-82,*  83-87,  96-99, 
150-53;  Poe.  3-10,  17-35,  40^5,  46-55,  62-63,  79-82  (cf.  Me.,  Prol. 
49-55),  91-92,  116-17,  125-28;  Ru.  3,  28-31,  80-81,  82;  Tr.  4-7, 
10-11,  20-22. 

2.  At  the  ends  of  plays,  in  bids  for  applause:  As.  942-47  (Grex); 
Ep.  733  (Grex);  Mi.  1437  (Pyrgopolinices  miles) ;  Poe.  1370-71  (the 
true  ending  of  the  play);  Poe.  1423  (Caterva),  the  exitus  alter  of  the 
play. 

3.  In  the  body  of  a  play:  Am.  867-68;  Aul.  715-20  (Euclio  senex 

avarus) : 

Opsecro  ego  vos,  mi  auxilio, 
oro,  optestor,  sitis  et  hominem  demonstretis,  quis  eam  apstulerit. 
Quid  ais  tu  ?     Tibi  credere  certumst,  nam  esse  bonum  ex  voltu  cognosco. 
Quid  est  ?     quid  ridetis  ?     Novi  omnis,  scio  fures  esse  hie  compluris 
qui  vestitu  et  creta  occultant  sese  atque  sedent  quasi  sint  frugi. 
Hem,  nemo  habet  horum  ?     Occidisti.     Die  igitur,  quis  habet  ?     Nescis  ? 

1  For  this  interchange  of  remarks  between  actor  and  spectator(s)  cf.  Au.  713-20 
(discussed  below,  p.  47). 

2  It  was  remarked  above,  p.  35,  n.  5,  that  Auxilium's  speech  (149-202)  is  a 
prologue-like  passage,  virtually  a  second  prologue.  It  might  indeed  be  called  a 
third  prologue,  since  the  lena  in  120-48  really  talks  in  prologue  vein.  In  170 
Auxilium,  the  divine  speaker,  refers  back  to  what  the  lena  had  said  (120-48)! 

3  For  our  present  purposes  Mer.  1-110  (spoken  by  Charinus  adulescens)  is  vir- 
tually a  prologue. 

*  Palaestrio's  soliloquy  (79-155)  is  in  effect  a  prologue.  In  92-93  there  is  a  refer- 
ence to  the  miles,  who  had  appeared  with  his  parasite  in  1-78,  which  is  quite  comparable 
to  Auxilium's  backward  reference,  pointed  out  in  n.  2,  above. 


48 


Charles  Knapp 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


49 


(with  this  most  effective  passage,  involving  interplay  between  actor 
and  spectator^,  cf .  Ca.  10-14  and  C^.  678-81.     For  the  abuse  of  the 
spectators  see  Wagner  on  Au.  709,  and  cf.  Aristophanes,  e.g.,  Nuhes 
1096-1101,  Vespae  73  ff..  Pax.  565,  Ranae  276  [see  Van  Leeuwen,  ad 
loc]);  Cas.  879-80  (Olympio  servos),  896-902  (involves  an  extraor- 
dinary bit  of  morahzing,  in  view  of  the  morals  of  the  play);    Cu 
466-68    (choragus);     Me.    88(^81    (Menaechmus    II    adulescens): 
-vosque  omnis  quaeso,  si  senex  revenerit,  ni  me  indicetis  qua  platea 
hinc  aufugerim"  (cf.  Mi.  859-62)-  Mer.  267,  313;  Mi.  859-62: 
Perii!     Excruciabit  me  erus,  domum  si  venerit, 
quom  haec  facta  scibit,  quia  sibi  non  dixerim. 
Fugiam  hercle  aliquo  atque  hoc  in  diem  extoUam  malum. 
Ne  dixeritis,  opsecro,  huic,  vostram  fidem! 
(cf  Me  880-81);  Mi.mi;  Mo.  280-81:  -Verumillucest;  maxuma 
adeo  pars  vostrorum  intellegit,  quibus  anus  domi  sunt  uxores,  quae 
vos  dote  meruerunt-  Mo.  708-10;  Poe.  92(^22,  1224  (Agorastocles 
adulescens):    ^^n  pauca  confer;   sitiunt  qui  sedent";    Ps.  562-73a 
(Pseudolus  servos,  at  the  close  of  an  '  act ' :  a  passage  of  great  interest 
and  value);    Ps.  584-86  (Pseudolus  servos);    Ps.  1234-35  (Baliio 
leno)-    "Nunc  ne  expectetis  dum  hac  domum  redeam  via;   ita  res 
gestast,  angiporta  haec  certum  est  consectarier " ;  Ru.  1383  (accord- 
ing to  Kirk,  AJP,  XVIII,  35,  n.  2);    St.  446-48  (Stichus  servos), 

410-14.  ,,.!.- 

4    In  some  passages  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  the  actor  is 

of  a  sudden  addressing  the  spectators  (cf .  the  note  to  this  page),  or  is 
speaking  to  himself,  or  is  addressing  the  elements  (cf.  Mer.  1  ff.,  dis- 
cussed below,  pp.  49-50) :  Au.  658  (Euclio  senex);  A..  231-32  (Mysis 
ancilla);  Ba.  161  (Lydus  paedagogus);  Ca.  966  (Hegio  senex)  ,^u^ 
232  (Ampelisca  ancilla);    An.  877-81   (Simo  senex);    Cas.  685-88 

(PardaUsca  ancilla). 

In  various  passages  Plautus  seems  to  be  pokmg  fun  at  conven- 
tional  practices  of  the  theater.  Thus,  when  in  As.  325  Libanus 
servos  bids  Leonida  servos  tell  his  news,  Leonida  rejoins:  Placide 
ergo  unum  quicquid  rogita,  ut  adquiescam.  Non  vides  me  ex  cursura 
anheUtumetiamducere?"     See  Gray  on  327.    Leonida  had  entered 

iHere  the  appeal  to  the  (unnamed)   spectators  is  decidedly  abrupt;    cf..  e.g.. 
Mo.  280-81.  708^10;  Mi.  1131. 


in  hot  haste  at  267,  full  of  good  news  which  he  wanted  to  impart  to 
Libanus,  but  he  had  been  killing  time  since  297  in  exchanging  com- 
pliments with  Libanus.  The  kind  of  scene  that  Plautus  is  here 
laughing  at  he  uses  frequently.  Cf.  the  following  passages,  in  all 
of  wliioh  a  character,  usually  a  slave,  though  in  a  hurry  (so  he 
declares),  lingers  long  before  he  tells  his  tale  or  performs  his  task: 
Ca.  768-828  (Ergasilus  parasitus :  for  definitel}^  parodic  elements  see 
778-80,  which  contain  a  reference  to  servi  comici;  790-98,  to  be  set 
beside  Am.  984-90,  quoted  above,  p.  37;  and  the  parasite^s  speeches 
in  800-828) ;  Cu.  277-327  (CurcuHo  parasitus) ;  Ep.  1  ff .  (Thesprio 
servos),  194-205  (important:  to  be  set  beside  Am.  984-90,  Ca.  11%- 
80);  Mer.  109-60  (Acanthio  servos:  a  delicious  passage;  cf.  espe- 
cially 109-10,  113-17,  126,  138;  he  does  not  tell  his  news  till  180  ff.); 
Mer.  842  ff .  (Eutychus  adulescens :  he  tells  part  of  his  tale,  at  last, 
at  900  ff.);  Mo.  348-62  (Tranio  servos);  Ps.  241-380  (Ballio  leno: 
he  is  in  a  hurry  and  busy  [248],  yet  lingers  [278,  380]);  An.  228-300 
(Mysis  ancilla,  sent  after  an  obstetrix  [cf.  459-73]  lingers,  though,  it 
must  be  noted,  she  effectively,  in  her  lingering,  advances  her  mis- 
tress^ cause).  ^ 

In  Mer.  3-8  Charinus,  the  lovelorn  adulescens,  talks  thus  (the 
play  has  no  prologue ;  Charinus  remains  on  the  stage  till  224,  talking 
with  Acanthio  servos,  who  enters  at  111): 

Non  ego  item  facio  ut  alios  in  comoediis 
<vi>  vidi  amoris  facere,  qui  aut  Nocti  aut  Dii 
aut  Soli  aut  Lunae  miserias  narrant  suas, 
quos  pol  ego  credo  humanas  querimonias 
non  tanti  facere,  quid  velint,  quid  non  velint; 
vobis  narrabo  potius  meas  nunc  miserias. 

In  the  extant  remains  of  Greek  and  Roman  drama,  the  practice  here 
ridiculed  is  characteristic  of  tragedy  rather  than  of  comedy  (cf.,  e.g., 
the  nurse's  words  in  Euripides'  Medea  57-58).  Still,  Ad.  789-90 
directly  illustrates  the  practice  from  comedy.  There  Demea  senex, 
by  troubles  beset,  cries:  ''Ei  mihi,  quid  faciam?  quid  agam?  quid 
clamem  aut  querar  ?  O  caelum,  o  terra,  o  maria  Neptuni ! "  Perhaps 
Tr.  1070-71  is  in  point.     There  Stasmus  servos,  catching  sight  of  his 

^  Various  matters  discussed  in  this  paper  have,  I  find,  been  treated  by  W.  W.  Blanck6' 
The  Dramatic  Values  in  Plautus  (a  University  of  Pennsylvania  dissertation,  1918);  see, 
e.g.,  pp.  22-23,  45-48,  55-56.  64-65. 


50  Charles  Knapp 

master,  home  after  three  years,  cries:  "Mare,  terra,  caelum,  di 
vostram  fidem!  Satin  ego  oculis  plane  video?  estne  ipsus  an  non 
est'  is  est!"  Still,  the  feeling  may  well  be  genume  here,  and  the 
situation  may  thus,  in  effect,  approach  the  tragic.  Cf.,  too  Am. 
882.  Alcumena,  charged  by  Amphitruo  with  dishonor,  goes  mto  the 
houseatSeO;  at  882  she  re-enters,  crying :  "Durarenequeomaedibus: 
ita  me  probri,  stupri,  dedecoris  a  viro  argutam  meo!"  She  con- 
tinues  in  this  vein  to  890.>  In  Hec.  865-68  occurs  this  dialogue 
between  Pamphilus  adulescens  and  Bacchis  meretrix: 

Pam.:    Die  mi,  harum  rerum  num  quid  dixti  meo  patri  ?    Ba.:    Nil. 
Pam.:    Keque  opus  est  , 

adeo  muttito:  placet  non  fieri  hoc  itidem  ut  in  comoedus, 
omnia  omnes  ubi  resciscunt.    Hie  quod  fuerat  par  resciscere 
sciunt,  quos  non  autem  aequomst  scire  neque  resciscent  neque 
scient. 
See,  finallv,  Mi.  200  ff.  (Periplectomenus  senex). 

I  feel  sure  that  in  the  passages  cited  on  pages  48-50  we  are  deahiig 
with  allusions  to  the  contemporary  Roman  stage.  Such  allusions 
in  Roman  plays,  if  merely  borrowed  from  Greek  plays  and  without 
specific  appUcation  to  Roman  conditions,  would  have  been  decidedly 

.  In  numerous  other  passages  the  custom  is,  I  think,  parodied      In  these  a  cto- 
acter  asks  (no  one  in  particular,  or  the  spectators  in  general   or  the  element      .h 
in  the  world  he  is  to  do.     To  be  sure,  situations  of  this  sort  have  al«a>s  of^"""^^ 
actual  Ufe      Yet,  from  Cicero  De  oratore     iii.  214,  217  (here  are  "ted  parts  of  t!,e  ^ 
passage  torn  Enius  which  I  Quote  below).  218;   Pro  Murena  88;   and  Qu.ntll.an  . 
r  ul  we  see  how  utterly  conventional  was  the  kind  of  thin«  Char.nus  had  .n  m,  ^ 
in  Mer.  3  ff.,  and  what  a  splendid  target  it  offered  for  parody.     Take  this  passage. 
from  Ennius'  tragic  fragments  (Ribbeck,  231-32) : 

Quo  nunc  me  vortam  ?  quod  iter  incipiam  ingredi  7 

Domum  paternamne  anne  ad  Peliae  tilias  . 
I  Shall  not  stop  to  cite  examples  of  this  from  Greek  '^^f.^%'!:;^J^^^^^^^ 
Andromacha's  lament,  from  Ennius'  AndromacM  Aechmalot^  (Ribbeck,  .5-8-). 

Quid  petam  praesidi  aut  exequar?  quove  nunc 

auxilio  exili  aut  fugae  freta  sim  ?     ,       „  i-         •> 

Arce  et  urbe  orba  sum.     Quo  accedam  ?  quove  applicem  ? 

cuTneque  arae  patriae  domi  stant,  fractae  et  disiectae  lacent. 

fana  fiamma  deflagrata,  tosti  alti  stant  panetes, 

deformati  atque  abiete  crispa 

O  pater,  o  patria,  o  Priami  domus 

saeptum  altisono  cardine  templum! 
Now   of  the  last  two  verses  at  least  of  this  passage  I  have  long  seen  a  paxody  in  Ba 
933  pa  t  of  that  wonderful  parody  of  plays,  etc.,  on  the  Troian  story  which  Chrysa    j 
Lrvos  utters  (Ba.  925-78).     Next  cf.  Ru.  204  ff..  where  we  must  either  imagine 
Srora^setting  of  rocks  and  cliffs  which  hide  the  girls  each  from  the  othe.  ^^^^^^^ 
lute  imperviousness.  on  Plautus'  part,  to  the  absurd,  or,  preferably,  a  burlesque  of  a| 
stage  convention. 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


51 


flat.  Again,  just  so  soon  as  there  was  a  considerable  body  of  Latin 
plays,  familiar  to  Roman  audiences  (especially  through  reproduc- 
tion; see  Cas.  5-20),  nothing  could  have  prevented  a  keen-witted 
Roman  audience  from  applying  passages  of  this  kind,  whatever  their 
provenance,  to  contemporary  Roman  rather  than  to  (less-known) 
Greek  plays.^  Finally,  we  can,  as  was  shown  above  (p.  36),  bring 
some  of  the  Plautine  allusions  of  this  sort  into  close  connection  with 
definite  allusions  by  Terence  to  a  definite  Roman  contemporary, 
Luscius  Lanuvinus. 

We  pass  now  naturally  to  note  that  in  Ru.  525-36  there  is  a 
reference  to  the  Fabulae  Atellanae  in  a  dialogue  between  Charmides 
senex  and  Labrax  leno,  who  have  just  escaped  shipwreck.  Verses 
535-36  run  as  follows: 

La.:    Quid  si  aliquo  ad  ludos  me  pro  manduco  locem  ? 
Ch.:    Quapropter?     La.:    Quia  pol  clare  crepito  dentibus. 

For  the  Manducus  in  the  Fabulae  Atellanae  see  Varro  L.L.  7.  95; 
Munk,  De  Fabulis  Atellanis,  pp.  39  if.  With  Ru.  535-36  compare 
Juvenal  3.  172  ff.  (see  Mayor  and  Wilson,  ad  loc).  In  Ba.  1087  ff. 
Nicobulus  senex  calls  himself  chief  est  of  '^stulti,  stolidi,  fatui,  fungi, 
bardi,  blenni,  buccones.^'  The  word  bucco  must  have  reminded  the 
audience  of  Bucco  in  the  Fabulae  Atellanae  (see,  e.g.,  Smith,  Diction- 
ary of  Antiquities,  I,  522  B;  Teuffel-W^ahr,  §9;  Thesaurus,  s.v, 
"Bucco"). 

Part  of  Plautus'  name,  Maccus,  is  a  reminder  of  the  Fabulae 
Atellanae.  Plautus  gives  his  name  in  several  passages  in  the  pro- 
logues, chiefly  in  statements  about  the  Greek  originals  of  his  plays. 
Cf.  As.   10-12 ;2    Mer.  9-10.      For  the  name  Plautus  see  further 

^  W^e  know  that  Roman  audiences  were  keen  to  relate  things  in  the  plays  to  actual 
life.  Cf.,  e.g.,  Suetonius  lul.  84  (the  account  of  Caesar's  funeral) ;  Macrobius  Sat.  ii. 
"■  4-5  (Caesar  and  Decimus  Laberius) ;  F.  F.  Abbott,  "The  Theatre  as  a  Factor  in 
Roman  Politics  under  the  Republic"  (pp.  100-14  of  his  Society  and  Politics  in  Ancient 
Rome). 

•  Leo  (p.  200)  regards  this  passage  as  Plautine.  Leo  and  Lindsay  read  Maccus; 
Ritschl  read  Maccius.  Leo  (pp.  81-85)  regards  Maccus  as  a  "Beiname,"  which 
Plautus  won  as  "  Schauspieler  .  .  .  .  ;  Varros  in  operis  artificum  scaenicorum  [ap. 
Oell.  3,  3.  14]  erhalt  also  eine  tatsachliche  Bestatigung."  He  believes,  then,  that 
Plautus  had  acted  "in  der  italischen  Volksposse  als  Atellanenspieler "  (85).  Finally, 
he  sees  in  Horace  (Epp.  ii.  1.  173),  "aspice.  Plautus  ....  quantus  sit  Dossennus 
edacibus  in  parasitis."  a  reference  to  this  part  of  Plautus'  career. 

In  several  other  passages  Plautus  may  have  been  thinking  of  himself.  In  As. 
127  ff.,  Argyrippus  adulescens  complains  bitterly  of  the  treatment  accorded  to  him 


52  Chakles  Knapp 

Cas.  32-34.'  This  passage  Leo  (p.  207,  n.  2)  regards  as  from  Plautus' 
hand.  The  adjective  Plautinus  occurs  in  Ps.,  Prol.  2;  Cas.,  Prol.  12 
(for  references  in  Terence  to  Plautus  see  below,  p.  53). 

Other  passages  in  which  reference  is  made  to  the  Greek  origmak 
of  Plautus-  plays  are  Mi.  ^b-^l;   Poe.  53-54;   Tr.  18-19. 

One  most  important  reference  to  the  contemporary  drama  is  the 
famous  passage  Mi.  209-13,  which  refers  to  the  i'"P"f  "•"«"*.  °f 
Naevius  On  this  see  F.  D.  Allen,  Harvard  Studies,  VII,  37-M; 
Brix-Niemeyer*,  ad  loc.  Leo  (Geschichte  der  Romischen  Ltteratur,  I, 
78)  accepts  the  tradition  of  Naevius'  imprisonment.  I  may  refer 
here  to  my  suggestion  {Classical  Philology,  XII,  149,  n.  2)  that 
Plautus,  in  his  use  of  poeta,  was,  at  times  at  least,  parodymg  Naevius 
proud  application  of  the  term  to  himself. 

In  As  746  ff.  Professor  Sihler  {AJP,  XXVI,  4)  saw  the  earliest 
contemporary'  allusion  to  the  Collegium  Poetarum.  But  see  my 
remarks  in  Classical  Philology,  XII,  149,  n.  2. 

Plautus  once  significantly  mentions  Philemon  and  Diphilu. 
together  in  the  body  of  a  play,  Mo.  1149  ff.  (quoted  above,  p.  37). 
For  Diphilus  see  also  Cos.,  Prol.  32;  fl..,  Prol.  32;  for  Philemon  see 
Tr    Prol  19;  Mer.  9  (not  formally  a  prologue). 

'That  Terence  in  his  prologues  names  some  of  his  predecessors  in 
the  Roman  drama,  and  refers  to  a  contemporary  whom  he  does  not 
name  is  well  known.    He  names  also  the  authors  of  his  Greek 

originals.  , 

Let  us  begin  with  the  latter.  In  ^«.  9  he  names  Menander  a* 
author  of  an  Andria  and  a  Perinthia,  from  both  of  which  he  had 
drawn  materials  for  his  own  Andria.  He  passes  to  a  vigorous 
defense  of  contamiuatio   (18-21).     In  Eu.   19-21   he  again  names 

_,         ,     ,  T«  icid  ri::,  Up  rries"    "Nam  mare  baud  est  mare,  vos  mare  acer- 

by  Cleareta  lena.     ^^  ^^J^^^  ^e  cms        Na  ^^^  ^^.^^  ^^.^  .^  ^^^, 

rumum  -™ '"  "',^"  .'  ^^acts  of  Prautus.  life,  as  told  by  Gellius  (iii.  3.  14) :  "  pleri„ue 
'r'r  "lU  ban  vLrol  remo  iae  tradiderunt,  cum  [Plautus).  pecunia  omni  auam 
alu  l..e.,  other  than  Varro   me  .^   „,ercatibus  perdita.    inops   Roman, 

m   opens   art.ficum  ^«''«'^'™™-"    f  ^  questioning  his  son  about  the  cause  of 

redisset  .  •,-.  '^  V^;^^.  ..pubUcisne  adfinis  tuit  an  maritumis  negotiis?  Merca- 
l;tn™eoaTh:b;irubi  .em  pe.didit ."     Se.  Gray  on  ...  130  ...  and  for  s.epn- 

recall  the  tradition  that  Plautus  was  born  at  Sarsina  (see  Leo.  p.  81). 
1  On  the  name  Plautus  see  Leo,  pp.  81-85. 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


53 


Menander  as  his  source  (see  Fahia  on  Eu.  3,  and  Les  Prologues  de 

Terence,  p.  115).     In  Eu.  22  ff.  he  defends  himself  against  the  charge 

of  contaminatio,  which  now  took  the  form  that  he  had  transferred 

to  his  Eunuchus  matter  borrowed  from  the  Colax  of  Naevius  and  the 

Colax  of  Plautus  (furtum,  ^plagiarism').     In  Ph.  24-29  he  names  the 

Greek  original  of  this  play  but  does  not  name  the  author ;  he  explains 

also  why  he  changes  the  name  of  his  play  to  Phormio. 

Ad.  6-11  is  interesting,  as  giving  the  ethics  of  playwriting  in 

Terence'  day:  see  especially,  9-11: 

eum  Plautus  locum 
reliquit  integrum.     Eum  hie  locum  sumpsit  sibi 
in  Adelphos,  verbum  de  verbo  expressum  extulit. 

In  Hau.  7-9  Terence  says: 

Nunc  qui  scripserit 
et  quoia  Graeca  sit,  ni  partem  maxumam 
existumarem  scire  vostrum,  id  dicerem. 

The  audience  may  have  had  this  information  through  the  pronun- 
iiatio  tituli,  which  preceded  the  performance  (see  Ballenden  on 
Hau.  7,  and  the  next  paragraph  of  this  paper). 

Several  times  Terence  insists  that  his  play  is  nova  {An.,  Prol. 
26-27  [by  impKcation];  Ad.,  Prol.  12;  Hau.,  Prol.  7,  29,  34,  43; 
Hec.,  Prol.  2,  5;  Ph.,  Prol.  24).  On  the  other  hand  the  prologue 
to  the  Andria  gives  evidence  that  this  play  (and  other  plays?)  of 
Terence  had  been  produced  before  the  performance  of  the  Andria 
for  which  the  extant  prologue  to  that  play  was  written  (see  Fair- 
clough,  Andria,  p.  70;  Ashmore,  Terence,  Introduction,  §  47, 
pp.  29-30). 

From  Hau.,  Prol.  4-5,  we  see  that  it  was  a  point  in  favor  of  a 
play  if  it  was  based  on  a  Greek  original  not  previously  adapted. 

In  the  reference  to  contaminatio  (see  above,  pp.  52-53)  we  have 
echoes  of  the  quarrel  that  Terence  had  with  a  certain  malivolus  vetus 
poeta,  identified  by  scholars  with  Luscius  Lanuvinus.  See  further 
An.,  Prol.  1-23  (the  plural  in  8,  15,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  need  not 
imply  that  Terence  had  more  than  one  critic  in  mind;  in  8  the  plural 
closely  follows  the  specific  reference  to  malivolus  vetus  poeta,  7. 
Elsewhere  Terence  very  definitely  has  one  rival  in  mind).  In  Hau., 
Prol.  16  ff.  the  famous  actor,  L.  Ambivius  Turpio,  elaborately  defends 
Terence  against  the  charge  of  having  spoiled  many  Greek  plays  to 


Plays  and  Players  in  Plautus  and  Terence 


55 


54 


Charles  Knapp 


make  a  few  Latin  plays;   the  charge  is  made  now  (16)  by  rumores 
malivoli.     Then  the  malivolus  vetus  poeta  appears  again,  to 
charge  Terence  with  having  taken  up  the  drama  without  sufficient 
preparation,   amicum  ingenio  fretum,   hand  natura   sua   (24)      In 
reply  Terence  sharply  condemns  a  recent  play  of  his  critic  (31  tt.). 
In  Eu    Prol  4-6,  Terence  maintains  that  he  had  assailed  his  adver- 
sary only  because  the  other  had  attacked  him  first,  and  that  he  was 
therefore  justified  in  his  rejoinders;   the  other  has  flaws  enough  of 
his  own  to  correct  (7-12).     In  14-19  he  declares  that  he  can  pick 
many  other  flaws  in  his  adversary's  work,  si  is  perget  laedere.     in 
Ph    Prol  1-11,  Luscius  is  bidden  to  look  at  the  beam  m  his  own  eye, 
and  Terence  declares  that  the  quarrel  has  been  entirely  of  Luscius' 
seekin-  (12-23).     In  Ad.,  Prol.  2,  there  is  reference  to  imqm  et 
advorslrii;    in    15   there  is  allusion   to   malivoli,   who   assert  that 
-homines  nobilis  hunc  adiutare  adsidueque  una  scribere.        io  the 
latter  charge  Terence  makes  no  real  answer,  merely  saying  that  he 
counts  it  honor  supreme  to  please  such  men  (17-25). 

In  Hec  Prol  11-14,  Ambivius  Turpio  names  Caecihus.  Having 
noted  the  fLilure  of  Caecilius'  earlier  plays,  he  tells  how  he  persisted 
in  bringing  those  plays  on  again;  ''ubi  sunt  cognitae  [through 
Ambivius's  skill],  placitae  sunt"  (21-22).  Terence  exp  ams  {An., 
Prol  1-7)  that  the  assaults  of  his  critics  have  prevented  him  from 
using  the  prologue  for  its  proper  purpose.  The  prologues  of  the 
Hecyra  show  the  difficulties  confronting  the  man  who  sought  success 
as  a  playwright,  e.g.,  the  populace  preferred  (28-42)  pugiles,  funam- 
huli,  gladiatores,  to  comedies. 

Part  of  the  quarrel  between  Terence  and  Luscius  had  to  do  with 
the  question  whether  the  translations  or  adaptations  of  Greek  plays 
should  be  close  or  free;   cf.  An.,  Prol.  18-21. 

The  difference  between  the  fahula  stataria  and  the  fahula  moiona 
is  brought  out  by  Ambivius  in  Hau.,   Prol.   35-45:   the  former  is 
lenis  (45),  the  latter  lahoriosa  (44).     We  learn,  too,  that  Terence 
purpose  has  been  to  please  the  people,  the  good  among  them  {An.,^ 
Prol.  1  ff.;   Eu.,  Prol.  1-3);  he  disavows  intention  to  libel  {laedere j 

anyone  {Eu.,  Prol.  1-6). 

In  Eu  ,  Prol.  22-41,  in  defending  himself  against  the  charge  ot 
plagiarism,'  he  writes  the  famous  words:  '^nullumst  iam  dictum,  quod 


non  sit  dictum  prius."  He  was  obliged  even  to  defend  his  style 
{Ph.,  Prol.  4-11).  He  admits  frankly  that  some  of  his  plays  had 
been,  at  first,  unsuccessful:  Ph.,  Prol.  30-34  and  the  prologues  to 
the  Hecyra,  passim. 

Terence,  too,  found  it  necessary  to  appeal  for  silence:  An.,  Prol. 
24-27;  Eu.y  Prol.  44-45;  Hecyra,  prologues,  passim.,  but  especially 
28-57. 

Though  Terence  names  no  actor  or  dancer  in  the  body  of  any 
of  his  plays,  being  in  this  respect,  as  in  so  many  others,  more  artistic 
than  Plautus,  we  may  note  that  the  prologues  to  the  Hauton  and  the 
Hecyra  were  delivered  by  L.  Ambivius  Turpio.  From  what  Terence 
makes  Ambivius  say  we  learn  much.  Usually  the  prologue  was 
spoken  by  a  young  actor  {Hau.,  Prol.  1-3).  From  Hau.,  Prol.  1-3, 
35-45,  especially  43,  and  Hec.  10-13,  we  see  that  Ambivius  was  well 
on  in  years.  He  spoke  these  prologues  as  actor,  orator,  'pleader,' 
'attorney,'  for  Terence;  his  popularity  and  influence  were  thus 
thrown  into  the  scales  on  the  side  of  Terence  against  Luscius  {Hau., 
Prol.  10-27;  Hec,  Prol.  9-57).  Ambivius  had,  when  younger,  pro- 
duced the  plays  of  Caecihus  (see  above,  p.  54).  He  deals  with  the 
charges  against  Terence,  contaminatio,  furtum,  etc.  He  distin- 
guishes the  fahula  stataria  from  the  fabula  motoria  (see  above,  p.  54). 
He  throws  light  on  the  stock  roles  of  comedy:  Eu.,  Prol.  26,  30-31, 
35-41;  Hau.  35-40  (see  above,  p.  43). 

I  am  reserving  for  another  paper  the  passages  in  which,  I  think, 
Plautus  had  particular  Greek  or  Latin  authors  in  mind. 

Barnard  College 
Columbia  University 


